Dana and I went to a permitted march downtown for a cause I care about. I'm keeping the politics out of this entry. Dana had printed our signs on very heavy cardstock, which looked excellent and became less convenient as the morning went on.
We walked down Dearborn. I joined the chants I knew and listened through the others. A woman beside us had brought a cooler in a stroller. I thought she had planned very well.
At Madison, a man leaned from the curb and spat at our group. Some of it caught my left sleeve. I was wearing the Italian linen blazer I bought in Milan, a piece I persist in treating as practical despite the evidence.
I was furious, but I didn't stop to argue with him. Two people checked that I was all right. The woman with the cooler gave me a wet wipe, and we kept walking.
Marina on Halsted looked at the sleeve and asked who had done it. She sounded as cross as I felt, which helped. The blazer was ready Thursday, and you couldn't see a mark.
— Ash